UPDATE 2-Dutch Queen abdicates, Willem-Alexander to succeed

AMSTERDAM, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Dutch Queen Beatrix, who turns75 on Thursday, announced she was abdicating in favour of herson, Prince Willem-Alexander, who will become king on April 30.

Willem-Alexander, 45, is married to Princess MaximaZorrigueta and has three young children. Decades of grooming forthe throne involved shaking off his image as a beer-drinkingfraternity boy whose blunt comments upset the press andpoliticians.

Beatrix said in a television broadcast to the nation thatshe was stepping down because she felt her son was ready to takeher place on the throne.

A constitutional monarchy, the Netherlands had reduced theinvolvement of the Royal House in politics, a role long seenmore as a formality than a position of power.

In the past, the Queen took part in forming governmentcoalitions by appointing a political mediator, raising questionsabout behind-the-scenes influence on the democratic process.

That role was scrapped before the last election, which tookplace in September 2012.

It was widely rumoured that Queen Beatrix was no fan ofanti-immigrant, eurosceptic politician Geert Wilders. Shealluded in speeches to the need for tolerance andmulti-culturalism, comments that were seen as criticisms ofWilders' anti-Islamic views.

Wilders' poor showing at the last election and loss ofinfluence in politics, could well have contributed to herdecision to abdicate.

Queen Beatrix, who remains very popular with the Dutch,became the sixth monarch of the House of Orange in 1980following the abdication of her mother, Queen Juliana, whoreigned for 31 years.

Juliana was 73 years old and in deteriorating mental healthwhen she abdicated but Beatrix has remained active and in goodhealth despite some setbacks.

The queen was emotionally shaken when a man drove his carinto a Queen's Day procession in 2009.

Her middle son, Prince Johan Friso, has been in a coma eversince he was buried in an avalanche while skiing last year.

(Reporting by Sara Webb and Anthony Deutsch; Editing by RobinPomeroy and Giles Elgood)